FOODSTUFF: Abundant greens at Allée Bleue’s picnic

abpic1.jpg I’m often asked to recommend Winelands picnics. I tend to make the effort to drive out to a restaurant. But having a husband who isn’t flexible enough to sit hunched and cross-legged for longer than five minutes, means spreading a blanket isn’t a popular choice in our house.

Fortunately he didn’t have to do that when we were invited to experience a Sunday family chicnic for four at Allée Bleue. Their idea of a picnic is a table and chairs, and waiters bringing drinks to your checked tablecloth under a shady tree. Younger kids are kept busy with a trampoline and jumping castle, and there are lovely lawns to run around on. Live music makes Sunday picnics a particularly good choice.

Although much of the farm is filled with practical packaging warehouses and hydroponic tunnels, the picnic area makes the most of its proximity to charming Cape Dutch buildings. The wine tasting centre recently moved there, so it’s handy to collect a few bottles en route to your car.

abpic3.jpg Allée Bleue grows, and supplies retailers, with incredible leaves, herbs, (including less usual tarragon and tatsoi) and fruit, aside from delicious wines. Their Chenin Blanc and Isabeau (Semillon Chard Viognier blend) have long been favourites of mine because they are so food-friendly.

So unsurprisingly the Allée Bleue picnic is a tasty showcase of the farm’s fresh produce. It goes down well in hot weather, especially if you’re big on salad – we had five of them, plus two artisanal cheeses. A lot of thought goes into providing quality homebaked breads, incredibly creative salads, a vibrant salsa verde, and some savoury preserves. It is beautifully presented in a basket where the sides open out, and all the food is served in jars with lids.

So a lovely country experience all round. On the salad note: the wild rice with smoked feta and baby carrots was delicious. There was mixed baby leaf salad with grated Parmesan, plus a crunchy baby fennel, red onion, preserved citrus with hazelnut dressing scored points. A beef stir-fry with egg noodles; and an unusual salted chicken salad with coconut shavings, dried mango and coconut dressing.

ab1.jpg Little jars aside, a few solid separate bits of protein would not have gone amiss – a few cocktail sausages perhaps? Melktert miniatures and farm nectarines finish it off. (The vegetarian picnic version is fairly similar, but the salads only have cheese, and a Med grilled vegetables replaces the beef noodle stir-fry).

The kiddies’ option was the source of envy at our table of four. A box of homemade chicken nuggets and fries were still warm. We felt lucky when our son graciously shared bits of his chocolate brownie.

ALLÉE BLEUE, Intersection R45 and R310, Franschhoek. Allée Bleue, 021-874-1021.
Picnics: R185 per person for standard or vegetarian picnic. Includes two glasses of Allée Bleue Starlette Blanc per adult.
Kiddies’ picnics: R65 per child including a juice box.
Herb tours (40 min) 10.30am on Fridays. R185 per person including a welcome drink and three-course meal at Allée Bleue Bistro.